Rounded With A Sleep
by Otter and Fox
Summary: Of all the universes in the world, this is the only one in which Shadow and Sonic simply can't make nice. But while the two believe they exist as nothing more than college rivals, neither realizes that their inability to get along like their dozens of unknown counterparts will leave their universe open to chaos. (sonadow. gijinka AU.)


So I saw a lack of multichapter sonadow works in the fandom with actual plots and figured I'd take a crack at it since I recently got dragged back into the fandom of my youth. Explicit in later chapters. Also over on AO3 under the same title :))

FFnet note: A little strange to be posting here again, as I haven't updated in two years, and now I come bearing uh... gay hedgehog fic. I guess a few of you might be wondering if I'll ever finish Birds Of A Feather, especially since it's already so close to done, but I honestly don't know. Some days I feel like I might finish it, but then I end up working on something else, because it feels kind of strange to work on something so old when I don't have much intrinsic motivation to work on it. Anyway, really sorry for my absence! I'm rarely ever on here anymore orz

* * *

He wasn't himself.

Not in the euphemistic way used to describe someone who was completely and utterly out of their mind (though he might be that), but in the way that he was quite literally not in his usual body.

This had happened often in the past, but it had been so long. And none of the times before had been quite like this. At least before he had been able to hold his ground.

"Ready to give up, faker?"

The voice above him was grating at best and homicide-inducing at worst. Even in his bizarre dreams, some things never changed. The elbow digging into the soft spot between his shoulder blades, however, was more malicious than normal.

"Tch, as if. You haven't won just yet," he growled back between unfamiliar sharp teeth.

The sharp pressure on his back increased by a fraction, warm puffs of air ghosting over his ear as the other laughed.

"Oh, is that so? You probably think you can just Chaos Control your way outta this one… But not this time."

A glint of green caught the corner of his eye, and his heart caught in his throat.

"Wow, did you really not notice me take it from you while we were fighting? I guess the Ultimate Life Form isn't so observant."

"Give it back," he demanded, and if that didn't sound like the request of a petulant five year old, he didn't know what did.

"Nah, I don't think I want to," the other laughed.

A hand moved to the back of his neck, small claws poking him through fabric and fur.

"So how about you just admit I've beaten you, and you can tell me what you and that egghead are up to?"

"How about you just die?" he spat back.

Skin split across the back of his neck as he flipped over, a look of surprise flashing across the other's face as he pulled his legs back and kicked the blue copycat square in the chest. While he flew back into the nearest tree with a painful crack of bone on bark, he wasted no time in getting to his feet.

But before he could get to kicking the shit out of the one who'd dared to suggest that he could be defeated, a crackling speaker in his ear made him freeze.

"Shadow? What are you doing? The island's about to blow!"

The other's blue ears perked up at that, eyes widening as he and Shadow stared at each other.

"What?!" he cried, stumbling to his feet.

Shadow simply rose an eyebrow. Was he stupid? He'd heard just as well as Shadow, hadn't he?

The ominous beep of a countdown sounded over the island, and Shadow took that as his cue to get the hell out of there.

"Hey, wait!"

He smirked and glanced over his shoulder. The other hedgehog was glaring at him, but the way he was panting made him look a lot less menacing than he intended.

"We'll finish this later," Shadow said, "If you're as fast as you say you are, that is."

And with that, he sped off across the leaf littered floor of the jungle.

The cry of the bomb countdown continued to grow shriller and shriller as he ran, growing unbearable as he struck blindly at empty air.

What the hell was that sound?

Shadow struck again and, with the rather unimpressive thud of a cheap alarm clock meeting its end against an equally cheap rug, found himself blinking against the harsh light of the morning sun.

Ugh, of course. Yet another morning begun by a stupid dream involving his least favorite person. No matter how much he tried, he never seemed able to avoid the asshole during the day, so it only figured he'd find no reprieve in sleep.

With a muffled groan, the teenager ran his hands across his face and untangled himself from the sheets of his bed. At least he had an easy day ahead of him for once. He only had one class on Fridays followed by track practice, which was usually good end of the week catharsis so long as he didn't bump into that other boy.

Shadow would try his best to stay out of the other's way, but Sonic seemed to handle their mutual dislike in an aggravatingly confrontational manner. Rather than leaving Shadow to his own devices, it was as if the blue-haired boy couldn't get enough of provoking him for his amusement.

As Shadow was pulling a deep red shirt over his spiked hair, his phone buzzed from his nightstand across the room. There was only one person who ever contacted him, so he didn't bother scrambling for it until he was finished getting dressed.

Rouge could handle him not responding right away.

But then his phone went off a few more times and he gave in before he'd even finished pulling his other arm through his black jacket.

_You're still meeting me for breakfast, right?_

_Hey, where are you?_

_I've been here for like ten minutes._

_Shadow, come on. This guy next to me is trying to hit on me, and his awkward small talk is giving me secondhand embarrassment._

_Okay, fine. If you're going to be late, I'm going to continue texting you until he leaves me alone._

_Actually, you'd better hurry. I'm starting to think his awkwardness is endearing in a cute, inexperienced sort of way. He's even bragging about himself and I don't think he realizes how ridiculous he sounds._

Shadow rolled his eyes as he held his phone with one hand and attempted to put his shoes on with the other. If Rouge really wanted to be left alone, she could get the guy to back off. It was more likely that she just wanted some excuse to talk to Shadow until he met up with her.

_Well, thanks to your fine display of Best Friendmanship, I just said yes to going on a date with this guy._

Finally ready to go, Shadow typed out a quick response as he locked his apartment door behind him.

_You're welcome. I'll be there in ten minutes tops._

And with that, he was off, gloved hands gripping the straps of his backpack as he raced towards campus. There was a bus that took off-campus students to the university - Shadow was speeding past it now, actually - but with all the frequent stops and the added irritation of other people, the boy much preferred running.

Except for peculiar days like today where it seemed as though every other pedestrian was hellbent on getting in his way. Shadow was forced to change course several times, once to avoid an incredibly slow woman pushing a baby stroller, and again for a group of younger teens who seemed to think the sidewalk was a great place to have a conversation.

The worst, however, had to be the man who Shadow was convinced went out of his way to get in front of him, causing him to stumble and nearly fall on his face. At least the man had been considerate enough to direct his focus away from whatever conversation he was having on his earpiece long enough to lend a steadying hand to Shadow's shoulder.

Not that the gesture made him any less peeved about what had happened. Because it didn't.

But even with all of the obstacles, his estimate of ten minutes proved to be a little generous on the side of time, as he found himself striding through the doors of the dining hall not six minutes after he had left his complex. Only a cursory glance of the large room was needed to spot his friend, her white hair standing out in the early morning crowd.

As he wove his way closer to where she sat, the pair of bat ears atop her head swiveled in his direction, and the girl turned to wave at him.

"You sure took your own sweet time today," she laughed.

Shadow rolled his eyes and ignored her comment, instead reaching to snatch a banana from her food tray as he moved to make himself comfortable in the seat across from her.

The motion must have caused his backpack to pull at his jacket a little, though, because suddenly Rouge was leaning forward to investigate her friend. Her long nails tugged at the furred collar of his jacket, tickling his skin as she stared at the back of his neck with curious eyes.

"What the hell are you-"

"You didn't tell me you had a lady friend over, Shadow! Is that why you were running late?" she laughed.

And he was about to ask her what she was talking about, but then her thumb grazed his skin. Why the hell did it sting? It was almost as if the back of his neck had been-

"Those scratches aren't from a _lady friend_," he ground out.

"Oooh, then it was a gentleman, huh? Well, maybe not so gentle…"

"_Rouge._"

"Oh, calm down. I'm just teasing you. Don't be such a sensitive baby," she laughed, releasing him and settling back in her seat, "It looks like some sort of animal attacked you or something."

Shadow rubbed idly at the scratches as he took his own seat in a huff. Of course he remembered his dream, but it had been only that: a dream. He must have scratched himself while he was sleeping somehow.

"Must have happened while I was sleeping," he replied with a shrug, and then to redirect the conversation, "So where's this endearingly awkward boy?"

Rouge gave him the sort of glance that said she wasn't done with him yet, but she clearly also wanted to shift the conversation to her early morning admirer. The bat girl's permanent smirk seemed to widen just a fraction, and Shadow couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the expression, because there was a bit more amusement about it than there was the self-satisfaction he would have expected.

"What's that look for?" he grumbled.

She smiled even more at his grumpiness, nodding her head a bit at something across from her.

Her vagueness was irritating, but Shadow would play along. He glanced over his shoulder in the most nonchalant way he knew how.

Whatever slightly content mood he had been in vanished in an instant, because not four tables away sat the biggest douchebag on campus and his stupid posse.

"You're joking."

And it was as if that blue-haired loser knew what was on Shadow's mind, because his green eyes locked with Shadow's and his easy grin became a little less easy and a little more cocky.

Sonic fucking Hedgehog.

Despite Sonic making eye contact with him, he didn't look away, his own gaze narrowing with every passing second. Sure Rouge didn't dislike the other boy like Shadow did, but wasn't it her duty as a best friend to at least refrain from going on a date with the one person he actively avoided and despised?

"-with you? Shadow?"

"Why him of all people?" he growled, ears pressed against his skull as he finally pulled his angry gaze away from the other boy. Sonic wasn't worth all this rage.

"What do you mean 'why him'?" Rouge asked, raising one of her finely groomed brows as she finally noticed who it was Shadow had been glaring at.

"Oh! " she laughed and shook her head, "Not your blue look-alike; he's not my type… the redhead next to him."

Shadow muttered a reflexive "we look nothing alike" before glancing over again to get a good look at this redhead. The other boy was almost as easy to spot as Sonic himself, with his dark red dreadlocks and his gruff voice that carried all the way to where Rouge and Shadow were sitting.

What was his name again? Elbows? …Knuckles? Honestly, Shadow didn't care all that much. He was familiar enough with Sonic's right hand man to know that he was as annoying as the rest of that clique, as he'd been in the same school system as them for at least since their early high school years.

"Still," he grumbled, turning away from the table just as Knuckles shot Rouge what he probably thought was a suave grin, "Why get involved with that group of rejects at all."

Rouge must have known arguing with Shadow was a lost cause when he was being so stubborn, because she only shrugged and gave a casual "I think he's nice" in response.

Hmph. As if anyone who associated with Sonic could be very nice.

He gave a sigh of surrender as he finally began peeling the banana he'd stolen from Rouge.

"I guess if you like him he can't be all that terrible," he conceded.

And Rouge didn't say anything, but Shadow saw the way the corners of her full lips curled into a pleased little smile.

Not that he was at all okay with the situation, because he wasn't. But at least she was happy.

Besides, it wasn't as if this would change anything between him and his arch nemesis. Just because their best friends were interested in each other didn't mean that they had to have the displeasure of sharing each other's company more than usual. It didn't mean they had to start hanging out or - god forbid - be civil with each other.

They could easily continue going about ignoring each other for the most part just as they had been.

Or at least, that's what Shadow thought. He had no way of knowing that the very irritant pervading his thoughts was currently tuning out his own friends to stare at the back of Shadow's head with a lazy grin, green eyes glimmering.

* * *

Heading into finals month soon, so I might be a little slow, but I'll be trying my best to get chapters out for you all! Thank you for reading :))


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